Boundaries
by Michelle Rose Landau
Summary: Deeks and Kensi discuss their little issue with boundaries...D/K


Boundaries

By: Michelle Rose Landau

Summary: Deeks and Kensi discuss their little issue with boundaries.

Pairings: Deeks/Kensi

Spoilers: post 3x16 and 17-Blye, K., 1&2, 3x18-The Dragon and the Fairy

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: LA, nor any of its characters. They are the creative property of CBS.

A/N: _The Deeks/Kensi moments in _The Dragon and the Fairy _episode were brilliant and funny, and just begging for a post-ep piece. So, here goes it._

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><p>"And this is one of the major questions of our lives: how we keep boundaries, what permission we have to cross boundaries, and how we do so." -A.B. Yehoshua<p>

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><p>Kensi lingers in the gym long after their little basketball tournament ended, dribbling the ball, and taking a few shots, tickled by the fact that she, Eric, and Deeks got their asses kicked by Callen and Sam, with a little help from the pixie-like Nell. For a couple of guys over forty, they played a good game.<p>

Afterward, everyone went their separate ways, too tired for a victory celebration.

Kensi replaces the basketball onto the rack, then she goes and sits on one of the benches, thinking.

The last few weeks have presented many changes for her. She finds that now that she knows the truth about her father's death, and that the man who killed him is dead, she has a new purpose coming in to work everyday. Before, it was using the resources and authorization she had to access confidential records and the search that drove her. Now, it's just passion that drives her. She loves her job, she loves that she has a place where she can use her particular skill set. She can't see herself doing anything else. Being an NCIS agent makes her happy, and she feels like she's honoring her father's memory everyday by carrying out the work that has to be done to protect the country he loved and she loves.

She grins.

Now, when she thinks about her father, she thinks about his words to her in his journals, she thinks about all that he taught her, and she remembers him as he was the last time she saw him. She no longer has questions swirling around in her head, she no longer feels as though she's going down a rabbithole searching for answers.

"What're you thinking about?"

Kensi starts a little and she turns round and sees Deeks holding two bags in one hand and a drink holder in the other.

"How long have you been standing behind me?" She asks.

"Uh, not long," he says, sitting on the bench next to her. "You must've been thinking real hard about something, Fern. You didn't even hear me come in."

"Yeah, I was thinking," she confirms. "What's this?"

"I went and got us burgers and shakes," he says.

"Thanks..."

He hands her a bag and a shake, and she takes them gratefully.

Deeks takes out his burger and unwraps it and takes a bite out of it.

"Mm, oh yeah, this is good," he says.

Kensi takes several greedy bites out of her burger, and Deeks looks at her.

His partner isn't the most dignified eater, but oddly enough, he finds it endearing and rather..._adorable_. When playing word association with Kensi Blye, her name and the word adorable don't usually match up. It's rare. But she has her moments, and this is one of them. Other men might be shocked, repelled, even, but Deeks thinks that her eating habits are spot on with her personality. Perhaps because he's been working with her for almost three years now and he knows her well. She's beautiful, smart, skilled, a New Kids on the Block fan..._deadly_, and somewhat feminine. He never forgets the deadly part, and is impressed by it. He's never known a woman in his life that he could call deadly and actually be quite proud.

She looks at him, chewing.

"What?" She asks, her mouth full.

"Nothing," he says, shaking his head. "Nothing at all."

Kensi regards him strangely, then she stuffs a few fries into her mouth.

He never forgets that she's beautiful-no-_gorgeous_.

_Let's not go down that road_, he thinks to himself.

Kensi definitely looks lighter these days, emotionally, that is. Now that she has found out the truth about her father, she seems more at peace not only with his death, but with herself. She could have done the easy thing and whacked Peter Claremont-an eye for an eye-but she didn't, she gave him the smallest of mercies and allowed him to live, and Deeks is proud of her. He thinks she's damn amazing for that.

She drinks down some of her shake then she looks at him.

"What made you want to hang around here?" She asks.

He shrugs. "You were here, so, I figured we should have a couple burgers, hang out until Hetty comes to kick us out."

Kensi grins.

"Your date cancelled," she guesses.

"No," he laughs. "I'm the breaker, remember? Besides, I didn't have a date. Is it okay that I just wanted to do the whole partner thing and break bread with you?"

She laughs. "Break bread?"

"You know what I mean," he says. "Just partners, hangin' out, eatin' burgers, sipping on milkshakes."

"Why do I sense an ulterior motive, here?"

"There's no ulterior motive," he laughs. "I'm serious. You were still here, I was still here, I was hungry, you were obviously hungry..."

Kensi still doesn't look quite convinced, but she takes it anyway.

It is moments like this with him, when he is so endearing, so calm, and upbeat, that she feels warm, positive, and safe. Those aspects of his personality can be infectious at times, and she finds herself admiring him even more for being different than herself, Sam, and Callen. Deeks reminds them that despite NCIS, despite the things the see and go through everyday, that it's okay to laugh, to find humor in a situation, and to loosen up. He changed the whole dynamic of their team, and Kensi is thankful for that.

She takes a bite out of her hamburger, and a gob of ketchup falls onto her pristine white and navy striped blouse, landing on her right breast.

"Dammit," she huffs, rummaging through the bag for a napkin.

"Here, I got it," he says, using a napkin from his bag.

Deeks, without thinking, and wanting to be helpful, wipes up the ketchup, and when he does this, he notices the softness of her breast. Part of his brain registers that softness, sending his fantasy center into overdrive, and the rational part of him is just now being made aware of what he's doing.

She's giving him a lethal stare as he wipes the stain furiously, with no regard for which part of her anatomy he's touching.

"Deeks, Deeks," Kensi says quickly, with a lethal glare.

"I-I'm sorry," he says, pulling away. "I wasn't thinking, I was just trying to help and-"

"Just...off," she huffs, snatching the napkin from him. "God, Mr. Handsy...first my thigh, now my boobs. We need to talk."

"I didn't mean to," he explains. "I was just trying to help. I'm not getting handsy."

"Remember that sexual harassment seminar we took?"

"Wait," he says. "Hold on. You are such a hypocrite!"

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"You're going on about me getting handsy with you, when you smacked my ass this morning," he says, getting defensive.

"That was just-"

"I'll tell you what that was," he says, his tone part serious, part teasing. "Sexual harassment. I'm telling Hetty."

"And what would you call what you just did?"

"Trying to wipe up a stain that just happened to be on your...chestal, mammalian area."

"My _chestal mammalian area_?" She asks incredulously. "Really?"

"I'm afraid you're gonna snap my neck if I say boo-"

She punches him in the shoulder.

"Ah!"

"It's all about personal space, Deeks," she says, getting back to her burger.

"Message received," he says, rotating his shoulder. "Damn, Kensi."

"We have boundaries to uphold," she says.

"You want to talk boundaries?" He says. "How 'bout not smacking my ass?"

"That was one time," she argues. "And I was kidding."

"So it's okay for you to touch my ass, but when I try to be helpful, you try to take my shoulder out," he says. "Does that sound fair to you?"

"Are you angry?" Kensi asks.

"No," he says. "I just want to clarify this whole boundaries conversation."

"There's nothing to clarify because you know already."

He chuckles. "Okay..."

The dust settles between them, and they finish eating.

Kensi picks up their trash and carries it all over to the trash can and disposes of it all.

When she turns, Deeks is right in front of her.

"Deeks, what the hell?"

"I'm a little confused," he says.

She looks into his eyes, and she recognizes the playfulness, and something else she can't quite name in his azure eyes.

"What about that was unclear?" She asks, side stepping him and heading back to the bench, but he gets in front of her again. "Deeks, we have boundaries. Respect them."

"I would, if I knew what they were," he smirks, stepping closer to her, and she backs away.

"You know what they are," she challenges, taking a step back for his every step forward.

"Do I?" He asks.

His voice is low, husky, yet still on the playful side.

She fights the shiver that threatens to course through her body.

"Yeah, you do," she says haughtily, taking a step back.

"Do _you_ know what the boundaries are?" He asks, stepping closer. "Because judging from the way you swatted me this morning, you seem a little confused about our 'boundaries' as well."

She laughs, feeling heat rise up in her cheeks.

"I am not confused..."

"So swatting me was...what?"

"Just a thing," she shrugs nonchalantly.

"Just a thing like our thing?"

"There is no thing, remember?"

"Well, Agent Blye, there must be," Deeks sighs. "Because we've got ourselves a problem with the whole appropriate/inappropriate touching thing, and _I_ would like _you_ to explain it to me."

Deeks doesn't know where this display is coming from, but he's damn sure she likes it, that she's enjoying this little thing they're doing.

"I think you already know about appropriate/inappropriate touching," she says in a low voice.

She finds she can't back up any further, as she has backed into the matted wall behind her, and his face, his body, are just inches from hers, and her entire body shudders and a flame rolls through her.

"Is this too close?" He asks in a breathy whisper.

She breathes deeply, nodding, liking this.

Deeks licks his lips, staring at hers.

"Tell me," he whispers. "Talk to me about our _boundaries_."

Kensi can't think straight, and she just looks into his eyes.

He leans down and gently captures her lips with his own.

Everything in her world suddenly bursts into brilliant technicolor, and she closes her eyes.

He samples her lips, and they are everything he's ever fantasized about: soft, supple, sweet, happily pink, and warm. He feels them kissing him back just barely, as if she can't believe this is happening. He can't even believe this is happening, and he's decided that if she decides that she wants to kill him, he'll let her do it because not only will he die a happy man for having touched her lips, but he will serve his punishment for blindsiding her like this, because Kensi Blye hates nothing more than to be blindsided.

Deeks pulls away, and Kensi licks her lips, opening up her eyes.

His heart is hammering in his chest, and the taste of her lingers on his lips, forever addicting him.

She looks into his eyes, and he sees a flash of anger in them.

"What the hell was that, Deeks?" She asks.

"I don't know," he says honestly. "I-I'm sorry...that was...out of line...even for me, and-"

"Deeks, shut up," she says, her hands gripping his shirt at his waist. "Just...shut up."

Kensi draws her bottom lip gently between her teeth as she tugs him closer to her, and she kisses him again. His brain registers nothing but the sweet sensation of her lips against his again, and even though it'd been less than a minute ago that they parted, it'd been far too long.

He tenderly cups her cheeks as they kiss.

For a long moment, their lips touch softly over and over, as if they are getting used to the idea that this is happening.

After a final kiss, they pull away, and he lets his hands fall away from her cheeks.

Her hands drop from his waist to her sides as she licks her slightly swollen lips.

Deeks clears his throat.

"So um...about those boundaries..."

"Yeah..." She nods.

"Okay."

With that, she slinks away.

A moment later, Kensi feels a smack to her ass, and she rolls her eyes.

"Seriously?" She asks.

"Good talk, partner," he smirks. "Good talk."


End file.
